© GT Nexus, Inc.

How to Use a Single Platform to Manage Bookings and Shipping Instructions across All Carriers

Optimize Ocean Transportation Execution

A STRATEGIC IMPERATIVE FOR MANUFACTURERS

Executing ocean transportation is an expensive and time-consuming process when supply chains span continents. In trying to manage their transportation strategy, manufacturers are met with a level of complexity that can result in high administrative costs, diffi culty tracking activity, diffi culty integrating with partners, and no reliable way to measure performance against the original transportation plan.

The lack of accurate information in the ocean execution stage makes it hard for manufacturers to streamline their activity and make good decisions on improving their strategies. Tradi-tional ERP systems do a decent job of tracking in-house data, but executing ocean transportation requires high-quality data from a multitude of partners and carriers across the globe.

Impact of Poor Ocean Transportation Execution When manufacturers don’t have the tools to effi ciently execute their transportation strategy, they end up with suboptimal performance and a lack of data to measure KPIs. Some nega-tive effects include:

Struggle to manage many carriers multi-nationally

Manual, inconsistent processes between carriers

No notifi cation of port delays causing late shipments

No consistent method of carrier measurement

Diffi culty bridging the gap between plan and execution processes

No historical records and “accurate evidence” of activities

The Root of the ProblemAt the core of poor ocean transportation execution is the level of accuracy and agility needed to operate a global supply chain. Without the right technology, manufacturers cannot accurately track data from carriers and partners in their supply chain network.

1. Incredibly complicated landscape

Global transportation planning involves thousands of lanes in many regions, with processes differing for each carrier. Manufacturers experience:

Huge administrative burden

Fees and fi nes for late bookings

2. Decentralized operations

Each carrier in each geographical area has a unique process for executing ocean transportation, leading to:

Reliance on external 3rd parties to do the work

Unreliable notifi cations that cause late shipments

Diffi culty integrating to 3PLs and freight forwarders on a one-off basis

© GT Nexus, Inc.

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Companies spend huge amounts of time and money executing across partner 3PLs and carriers, often leading to sub-optimal results.

The Challenge

Managing many carriers and assessing their performance levels becomes a convoluted, manual process without a cloud technology platform on which to view activity.

User

Enterprise

User

UserUser

User

CarrierCarrier

CarrierCarrier

CarrierCarrier

User

Plant

Plant

NetworkConnectivity

Agility

Customers

Customer

DC / Warehouse

Plan

Actual At-Risk DelayDynamic ETA

B

A

Sense more accurately

Operate more efficiently

Respond faster

Make better decisions

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The SolutionBy investing in a single platform for placing bookings and shipping instructions across all carriers, companies can lever-age cloud technology to manage large global supply chains. A centralized platform allows consistency across partner and carrier data, tracking of milestones throughout the execution stage, and assessment of performance based on quality KPIs.

Track and analyze ocean transportation on a cloud-based platform.

Allow shipping party to place bookings directly from orders

Workbench to process and manage planned shipments

Use execution platform to communicate with external forwarders and carriers

How to use an ocean transportation execution platform:

1. Ensure advanced notice of to-be shipments from shipping sites

2. Use advanced tools to make good decisions on consolida-tion and routing options

3. Monitor partner performance against expected SLAs for shipment execution

Value PropositionsBy managing ocean transporta-tion in the cloud, manufacturers can lower costs and reduce fees while more accurately measuring supply chain activity. The benefi ts from improved ocean transporta-tion execution include:

1. Reduce SG&A costs through electronic collaboration

Track all ocean shipments on one centralized platform

2. Lower documentation fees by 75-100%

Use electronic register of receipts

3. Compress booking and documentation cycle time

Priority on electronic bookings and real-time documen-tation registration

4 Improve working capital by decreasing DSO

Shorten time required to collect payments from cus-tomers via L/C automation

5. Use exception-based management

Receive alerts when milestones are behind schedule or projected to be late

Use carrier KPIs for scorecarding to compare actual vs. contract SLA

Ocean Transportation Execution and the Networked CompanyTo better manage ocean transportation in a complex global supply chain, companies must transform themselves from silo-based, inward-facing corporate operators to interconnected, highly agile business network orchestrators.

Rather than attempt to track every movement manually dur-ing shipments, companies need to invest in cloud technology that brings all relevant informa-tion onto a single platform, automatically.

Execution data is stored in the cloud, eliminating costly and time-consuming manual processes.

CustomerCustomer

User

ASN/Manifest

ShipmentPlans

EDI/XML

Load Plans

Bill of Lading

Booking/TenderShipment Execution CarriersUser

Booking/TenderCarriers